This is a reason I love our Church.

Our church is not afraid to fail.
(we don't like it, but were not afraid of it)

I see all the ministry past, present and future CJC does. One thing keeps coming up, "Wow, did we come up with that?" Some was good, some not so good. What were they?

The Bad things.

• Roping's at the ranch when we first got the place.(Summer Round Robin Roping's) The arena was to small, no announcer stand, no sound system, the arena was barely lit, cattle busted through bad fence, no computer to keep books, etc. Needless to say, "The worst roping I have ever been to."
• Sale Barn in the Summer and Winter. Though it was our beginning and all we had, it reached a limit for what we could do. By the way, do you remember our children's church and nursery at the sale barn? (an old restaurant and a closet) I look back and laugh.
  
• The Sermons. This is mine. Though you may disagree, this is my turn. They were to long, to hard, immature (from a young pastor) from a frustrated speaker, manipulative, done how I was taught to do them instead of how Jesus was telling me to do them, and many more to count.
• Lea County Championship Roping's. Now there is good and bad in this. I loved the LCCR. I was honored that CJC got to host them and carry it through its 50th anniversary. I hated the fact that in some ways we did a poor job hosting them. The prizes, the cattle, our organization and the fun we had is where we shined. However the tradition and citizenship is where we failed. We neglected some things that cost us some dear friendships. It bothers me to this day. It was an awesome opportunity for grace, but we still own this one.
  
• Neglecting People. I could not keep up with everyone as a one person staff. Because of it some people were neglected. For this I am truly sorry.
  
• The list of our mistakes could go on and on. ( If at any point you were hurt by one of these or one I did not mention, this is for you.) I humbly apologize. I am not perfect and I hope you can find a way to forgive me (Ty Bean) or Cowboy Junction Church.
  

So there you go. Wow! That was liberating. Is that it. No! That's the thing about our Cowboy Junction Church. Even though we have made BIG mistakes, we don't allow them to stop us. We learn and we get better. How? Let me show you.

The Good things:

• We stopped kicking a dead horse (pun intended). Instead of feeling like we're letting God down by continuing to put on crappy roping's, we ended it. We could have felt bad that we were a cowboy church with no roping, or we could develop a "spirit of excellence". We ended our roping until we could do them right. We even discussed the other day in the board meeting the need to finish our new arena. But first we need to take care of our kids and youth. WHAT DID WE LEARN? We are not afraid to end some ministries to excel in others.
• We step out in faith. The purchase of the ranch was a leap of faith. Attendance was down, offerings were low and we had no money for a down payment. We knew however, that if we did not step out when we did our church would never have an opportunity to grow. I ran across the county as a fund raiser so we could have enough money for our down payment. ($30,000 was raised) Our attitude was, "This might fail, but the risk is worth it." Today I am so glad we went for it.
• I feel like Jesus is talking to us. Okay, that was a weird way of saying, "The sermons have gotten better." I finally got free of some baggage I was carrying as a public speaker. The pressure to perform, the pressure to please, the pressure to carry ALL the needs of Cowboy Junction Church (finance, leadership, vision, etc). Because of the release, I feel like I am being the man God wants me to be. I wasn't afraid to own up and change. DISCLAIMER: Due to the nature of Ty Bean he might have momentary flare ups of his flesh. Please be aware that God is still working on him. He's slow, but worth waiting on.
  
• Cross your T's and dot your I's. Visionaries often have one tiny flaw, the details. One thing is definite at CJC, communication and consideration. Because of things like the LCCR, the staff of CJC have become sensitive to people. Recently our staff came up with a great idea to solve big problems we are having in our Kids Church. We were Soooooo excited. Immediately the wheels began to turn and the dates to start began to be thrown around. "March, we can start it in March", was the cry from one staff member. Then we paused. Though we were excited, we remembered that some communication with certain people must first take place. We have to be considerate of others and their ministries. We can't get ahead of ourselves because we have a good idea. Because of our failures with the LCCR we have become better leaders.
  
• To lead people we need people. This year our leadership agreed that, even though we needed to improve our buildings and facility, staff was more important. Beyond buildings, staff blesses individuals. We hired Cigi and immediately felt like we had made a great move. We then hired Jonsie Hicks as our church secretary, same result. Our staff now consists of myself, Heather, Cigi and Jonsie. Our new board consists of Crill Allen, Jeff Medlin and Larry Tuttle. Then we have also been blessed with a core group of volunteers and leadership in our "Mission Drift". I feel like we are filling in the gaps for our people. People do matter at Cowboy Junction Church.

There you have it. We are not afraid to fail. We don't like it, but were not afraid of it. Have patience with people, Gods working on them. They could be in the process of learning from their mistakes. If you get offended you just might not get to see them at their best, and benefit from it.